Alabama State Port Authority advances Port of Mobile intermodal rail facility

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

The Alabama State Port Authority's Board of Directors approved two measures that will bring the port's new intermodal rail facility closer to reality.

The board authorized expenditures for the construction, inspection and testing for a rail access bridge that will connect five Class 1 railroads and the authority’s terminal railway to an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF), a rail intermodal facility and the second leg of the authority’s Choctaw Point intermodal program.

The second measure extended Moffatt and Nichol’s engineering and program management through Fiscal Year 2013 for key components within the authority’s Choctaw Point project.

As approved, the port authority will let $11.5 million in contracts for the construction, inspection and testing of a rail access bridge into the intermodal rail facility. The ICTF will service import/export containerized cargoes moving through APM Terminals Mobile, as well as domestic containerized cargoes from regional manufacturers.

“The ICTF program is critical to servicing our regional market shippers, who have to rail their containerized freight longer distances at higher costs,” said James Lyons, director and chief executive for the port authority. “With this project, we can alleviate time and cost pressures on our customers, expand the container terminal’s natural market reach and provide an intermodal ramp for domestic shipments.”

The second measure approved by the port authority’s board authorized extending program management services for key components of the Choctaw Point projects, including the ICTF, site development work at APM Terminals Phase II container terminal expansion and the north tract of the affiliated logistics park.

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